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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26556565">Hunting Youkai</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kalira/pseuds/Kalira'>Kalira</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Naruto</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>(of the bad guys), Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood, Blood and Gore, Devotion, Heavy Angst, Kakashi Week, Kakashi Week 2020, Love, M/M, Magic, Minor Character Death, Serious Injuries, Temporary Character Death, Youkai, Youkai Hatake Kakashi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 09:01:22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,892</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26556565</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kalira/pseuds/Kalira</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Iruka would do <i>anything</i> to protect his lover from the hunters who want to steal his heart for the magic it might give - and he may have to sacrifice everything, if he wants to save Kakashi.</p><p>But the stolen magic one might gain is but the smallest inkling of the power of a youkai's heart, when freely given. . .</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>184</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Kakashi Week 2020, Kalira's Kakashi Week Stories (2020)</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Hunting Youkai</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Written for <a href="https://kakashiweek.tumblr.com/post/623757588975190016/kakashi-week-2020-prompts">Kakashi Week</a>, Day 7: Youkai/Japanese Mythology</p><p>I had 128 words of this written when I woke up this morning (which were written last night around 1am) and a very short overview of the idea. I have been working on it all day, and only <i>just</i> finished it.</p><p>It was inspired last night when <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ixi4jz0Gn4E">The Highwayman, as sung by Loreena McKennitt</a>, came on my autoplay on youtube. It draws a fair bit from that story. It is bloody and angsty, but there is a happy ending, I promise!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Iruka slipped out onto the engawa with his sandals in one hand, barely daring to breathe as he slid the shoji closed behind himself.</p><p>A moment later he was trotting down the road, feeling the cool night air tickling over his skin as he moved faster, watchful for anyone else out so late. The village was quiet, for the most part, but-</p><p>Iruka’s breath caught and his eyes widened as he heard voices - familiar voices, a patrol of the soldiers - or so they claimed - that had settled here a few weeks ago. He pressed himself against the wall of the closest house he had been passing until his back <i>ached</i> from the pressure, fingers searching out the fang dangling from the tightly-braided cord around his neck. He found the smooth enamel easily and wrapped his fingers around it so tight one edge nearly cut into his skin. He shivered, remembering the horror that had come over him as Kakashi first pressed it into his hands only to laugh at his concern and bare perfect, gleaming teeth; the fang already grown back.</p><p>Iruka chanted under his breath, feeling the tiny spark of magic growing in little flickering gasps, rolling over him and hiding him away as the men passed.</p><p>He waited for long minutes, still chanting, before he could bring himself to move again.</p><p>The edge of the village wasn’t far, and then - past the rough wooden wall - there was a clear space Iruka would have to cross quickly. He paused, catching his breath and looking for any sign of watchers, then stroked the length of Kakashi’s fang with the pad of his thumb - taken in his true form, the fang was longer than Iruka’s longest finger - and murmured a quick prayer that was half a spell. Borrowed magic.</p><p>Gifted magic, held in the fang.</p><p>Iruka darted out into open space, the moonlight almost sliding over him, but illuminating his path clearly as he ran for the forest.</p><p>The shadows beneath the trees all but reached out to him, and Iruka shivered as he finally reached the treeline, disappearing - safe - into the territory unclaimed by the humans of his village. He kept one hand out as he passed between the trees, trailing over rough bark.</p><p>Though Iruka struggled to make out any detail in the thicker dark of the night beneath the trees, his path was easy, and he moved quickly towards the deeper forest. The places where no mortal from any of the surrounding villages would willingly walk.</p><p>Save one.</p><p>Iruka smiled, caressing the fang against his chest, then stilled as something huge and silvery moved in the shadows; shining in the faint glimmers of moonlight that made it through the thick canopy.</p><p>Kakashi moved towards him, quicksilver and blurred at the edges, then suddenly <i>there</i> before him, in an almost-human guise, eyes bright with both love and youki. Iruka laughed breathlessly at the thought, even as Kakashi reached for him and he threw himself into his lover’s arms.</p><p>They wound around him in a tight embrace, and Iruka hummed happily, returning it as Kakashi scented him, then lifted him in one easy movement, spinning with him. As soon as they stopped again Kakashi kissed him, fierce and gentle. Like Kakashi. Iruka’s arms tightened around Kakashi’s neck, and he rumbled affectionately, nuzzling Iruka’s face as their lips parted, keeping him close.</p><p>“Hello, gorgeous.” Iruka said breathlessly, and Kakashi grinned playfully, nipping at his jaw.</p><p>“Hello, koibito.” Kakashi returned on a low rumble, and Iruka let his arms slide down - from Kakashi’s shoulders to his lean waist. Fur brushed over his skin and he shivered, only to be drawn in closer still, Kakashi’s tails curling around them both to shelter him.</p><p>Iruka smothered a laugh - he wasn’t cold, not really, but he would never turn down the cosy comfort of being cuddled into Kakashi’s fur. Kakashi never treated him like he was <i>fragile</i>, precisely, but there were places where his youkai lover’s grasp of what it meant to be human - what it felt like - were weaker than others.</p><p>Iruka allowed himself to be drawn deeper yet into the forest, feeling the welcoming pulse of its heart, dark and strong. It answered to the strongest youkai who kept its magic, and that was Kakashi - and thus, it welcomed Iruka, not only by the strength of the youki in the fang he carried, but by the sense of <i>him</i>.</p><p>“It has been some time since you came at night.” Kakashi said as he guided Iruka deeper, their path now leading between trees with trunks broader than both of them put together, and some that moved on their own. Iruka knew there were jubokko in this forest, though none of them would touch him - not a confidence he would like to test without Kakashi by his side, however - among other, even rarer things.</p><p>“It has been hard to slip out at night.” Iruka said with a sigh.</p><p>“Your inn has been busy?” Kakashi asked, glancing at him, and Iruka’s heart squeezed at the genuine curiosity and interest. The workings of a village inn could not <i>possibly</i> hold even the slightest interest for a greater youkai like Kakashi, but he <i>was</i> - simply because it was part of Iruka’s life.</p><p>“That is part of it.” Iruka admitted. “Sarutobi-san is old and I do as much as I can for him, these days. It keeps me busy.”</p><p>Kakashi made a rumbling sound of acknowledgement, then scooped Iruka into his arms, making him laugh even as he leaned into the embrace, catching hold of Kakashi around the shoulders. Kakashi nuzzled his cheek, then leapt, a faint tingle of youki sweeping over Iruka as they moved far further and faster than anything human could have managed. He let Iruka down then, but he stayed close, sliding a hand down the fine silk of Kakashi’s sleeve and clasping his hand.</p><p>Kakashi grinned, twining their fingers, rubbing his thumb over Iruka’s knuckles with the faintest scrape of the tip of his claw. Iruka licked his lips, moving closer, squeezing Kakashi’s hand.</p><p>“It’s also,” Iruka continued, when he remembered what he had been saying, “it’s-” He paused, sighing. “It’s harder to leave the village at night. To not be seen.”</p><p>Iruka wouldn’t <i>care</i> if he was seen, save that if he were. . . He remembered, from many years ago - he’d been a child - the accusations and suspicions heaped on a friendly, sunshine-bright man who had loved a kitsune.</p><p>He was dead now, long gone. Iruka had helped his son leave the village. He hoped the boy’s mother was alive, somewhere - hoped he’d found her.</p><p>“The soldiers?” Kakashi asked, knuckles trailing lightly over Iruka’s cheek.</p><p>Iruka nodded, grumbling. “So they say.” he said, eyes narrowed.</p><p>“You don’t believe them?” Kakashi cocked his head curiously, tails flicking as he drew Iruka into a protected glade, settling down into a luxurious heap of cushions. Iruka followed happily, curling up to his lover’s side, stroking one of Kakashi’s tails with his free hand and grinning as it made him tense and growl softly with pleasure.</p><p>“I believe they’re soldiers,” Iruka said with a sigh, “but why they’re here. . . I don’t know. They’re <i>looking</i> for something. And they’re . . . rough.” He shook his head, an uncomfortable chill dancing down his spine. “They bully us, sometimes. It doesn’t bother me much, but some people. . .”</p><p>“And you don’t wish to be caught at night . . . much less leaving the village.” Kakashi filled in, looking sombre and displeased.</p><p>Iruka knew it wasn’t directed <i>at</i> him, but <i>for</i> him, and kissed his lover for it. Kakashi growled tetchily, but softened under the kisses, lounging back more comfortably. Iruka cuddled into him, lying across his chest, and stroked his jaw.</p><p>“There is no reason for me to be leaving the village at night, no reason for me to be <i>here</i> at all . . . save you, of course,” Iruka amended as Kakashi’s growl grew almost sulky, a pout twisting his thin lips; he brought Kakashi’s hand up and brushed a kiss to the backs of his fingers, admiring the strong lines of his hand and the fine-edged claws, “and I truly do not wish to speak to them about <i>anything</i> unless I have to.” He shuddered.</p><p>Kakashi’s voice softened into a croon, and he sat up, pulling Iruka against himself, curling around him. Iruka smiled, feeling protected and adored, and reached up, burying his fingers in Kakashi’s hair, toying with one huge, fluffy ear, which flicked under his fingers as Kakashi smiled.</p><p>“It’s all right.” Iruka said softly, cuddling into Kakashi’s body, feeling the restrained power that characterised a youkai of his strength, even in this form, “I’m here with you now.” He closed his eyes, basking in the feel of his lover all around him.</p><p>Kakashi rumbled affectionately, and Iruka yawned, the long day and the cosy warmth of being with his lover combining to relax him.</p><p>“For now. . .” Kakashi said as he fell asleep, or perhaps he only imagined it.</p>
<hr/><p>Iruka gathered up the cups someone had left scattered on the floor, suppressing a sigh, and inspected them all for damage - fortunately none - as he put them on his tray. He was about to rise when he heard-</p><p>Iruka stilled, tilting his head a little, listening hard through the fusuma. Probably it was nothing, he told himself, even as he strained to hear. It wasn’t that uncommon; people talked about youkai. They were strange and frightening and made for good stories.</p><p>But it wasn’t just any villagers telling possibly sake-fuelled tales. It was those strange <i>soldiers</i> that had invaded their village.</p><p>Iruka’s stomach knotted uncomfortably as several things fell into place rapidly, and he swallowed hard. Not soldiers. <i>Hunters.</i></p><p>Hunting <i>youkai</i>.</p><p>No wonder they were tough, their gear thick with weapons and their bodies obviously scarred. Iruka swallowed hard. They were. . .</p><p>Iruka’s fingers trembled and he held tighter to the tray, listening to one of them snap at two others, outlining their plan to forge into the deepest parts of the forest. They knew there was something there - they thought it was a kitsune, but that only meant they would be prepared for even more sorcery than. . .</p><p>It would <i>work</i>, Iruka realised, heart sinking. Many of them might die - but there was a full troop of them. If they followed this plan, if they took it deep into the heart of the forest that Iruka’s village was nearest. . .</p><p>No wonder they had come here, Iruka thought, feeling sick. It was closest to the forest still claimed by youkai - and they had, Iruka knew from listening to travellers’ tales over the years, more than their share of brushes with youkai.</p><p>Both violent and. . .</p><p>Iruka bowed his head as he tried to suppress the anxious twist knotting his insides, and his eyes landed on his lover’s fang - it had slipped out of his yukata, swinging on its cord around his neck. He rose, the tray in his hands, thoughts whirling. He’d already planned to slip out to see Kakashi again - if not tonight, then the next night; he’d <i>missed</i> his lover, wanted to be with him again - Iruka would . . . find out what more he could, and carry a warning.</p><p>He didn’t know what Kakashi would do with it, but Iruka had to <i>tell him</i> - had to be sure he would be safe, above all others, though Iruka didn’t want <i>any</i> youkai to be caught by these horrible-</p><p>“Here now, what’s <i>this</i>?”</p><p>Iruka smiled, smooth and practised, and bowed, the equally-practised words of an insincere apology coming easily, despite his turmoil - despite the scarred, suspicious face of the hunter he now faced, a man he had just heard plotting what would be the horrible death of his lover, if successful.</p><p>Hands caught hold of him as he passed by the man, and Iruka stiffened. “Excuse me, gunjin-san-” he began, then startled as a hand shot out and- He swallowed hard. And caught hold of Kakashi’s fang, yanking at it as another pair of hands gripped his shoulder and arm.</p><p>The tray clattered out of his hands to the floor, teacups shattering in a spray of messy shards, as Iruka was hauled closer to the first hunter.</p><p>“This . . . is a youkai trinket.” he said, grinning. It wasn’t a nice expression.</p><p>Iruka wanted to snatch Kakashi’s fang out of his hand. <i>He</i> should never touch it, like he should never touch <i>Kakashi</i>.</p><p>“<i>He’s</i> caught a youkai?”</p><p>Iruka flinched at the question from yet another of the hunters coming to join them, grabbing Iruka’s other arm as their leader released it. He gestured, and the two men pulled Iruka with them, out of the small, luxurious tearoom and down the private corridor beyond. Iruka hoped - he couldn’t help it - but there was no one to see.</p><p>“Oh no, I don’t think this is a <i>hunter’s</i> trophy - I think this is a lover’s token.” the leader said slyly. “But perhaps our friend here could illuminate things for us a little more clearly, hmm? Why, there are <i>so many</i> things he could help us with, now we know. . .”</p><p>Iruka shook his head hurriedly. “I don’t know what you mean! Youkai? That’s just a tooth, I <i>found</i> it and- well, I kept it, that’s all. You think it’s-”</p><p>“I know a youkai’s fang when I see it, and I know a youkai’s magic when I see it, <i>wrapped around a weak little neck</i>!” the lead hunter barked in Iruka’s face, making him flinch again. “<i>Found</i> it? What kind of idiot do you think I am, you traitorous brat. This is a living youkai’s fang, and it was <i>given</i>, not fought for.”</p><p>Iruka swallowed and shook his head again, denying it, ignoring the sick feeling in his stomach at <i>that man’s</i> hands on Kakashi’s fang. He told them he didn’t know anything about youkai other than the stories told in the village; he affected shock at the thought there might be some kind of hunt going on - though he <i>had</i> been shocked; just not the way everyone else in the village was likely to be when they found out - he denied everything repeatedly and determinedly.</p><p>The sick feeling got even harder to deny when the man’s other hand wrapped around his throat, squeezing his trachea until he choked, gasping. “You may not <i>want</i> to, but you’ll help us either way.” the hunter told him in a low voice, and chills raced through Iruka’s body.</p><p>The hunter’s hand squeezed tighter and Iruka’s world went black before he could protest any further.</p>
<hr/><p>Iruka <i>ached</i> when he woke to darkness, and it took only a moment for him to remember what had happened. Fear and anger and that sickening feeling surged up within him as he thrashed, finding that the darkness was only in part the fabric that had been against his face and mostly the night itself, far outside the village.</p><p>It had been afternoon when he was working in the inn, when he’d <i>heard </i>them- When they’d found him.</p><p>Iruka swallowed hard. They’d taken him and now they’d brought him outside the village, he had no idea how, and he didn’t know <i>quite</i> where he was either, or what. . . What they planned to do with him.</p><p>Only that they planned to <i>use</i> him to get to Kakashi - to catch him, kill him.</p><p>Iruka tried to sit up, then started retching as his head throbbed suddenly.</p><p>“He’s awake!”</p><p>“Good, we’ll need him.”</p><p>Iruka gasped, choking, nose wrinkling disgustedly. Hands caught him by the shoulder and hauled him up even as he fought to catch his breath. His eyes widened as they dragged him over rough ground - he still wasn’t sure exactly where they were, but the youkai forest was right there, and this road was barely a token attempt at clearing a human dominated space right in the midst of it.</p><p>Iruka fought, but he was dizzy and he <i>ached</i> and he was <i>chained</i>, manacles around his arms, keeping them behind his back and twisted painfully.</p><p>He was surprised to see Kakashi’s fang still lying on his chest, bright in the thin moonlight. His heart fluttered with relief to see it there where it belonged, only for his stomach to twist painfully as he wondered why they’d left it - and what they intended to do. With it - with him.</p><p>“Ow! <i>Fucker!</i>”</p><p>Iruka’s elbow smarted from the blow he’d dealt one of the men hauling him, but he didn’t care, pleased with himself for striking well enough. He lashed out in return and Iruka’s yelp of pain was muffled and sputtering as something crunched in his face and blood spilled down over his mouth.</p><p>Iruka’s legs wavered beneath him, his vision going black for a moment and his ears full of nothing but the thump of his own heartbeat. When the world returned to him, the hunters’ leader was snapping at his men, and they snapped back but obeyed his orders, dragging Iruka up and shoving him forwards.</p><p>His feet caught against metal and he yelped again, gurgling on his own blood and then coughing, which made a fresh starburst of pain light in his face.</p><p>“Watch it, we need him at least <i>mostly</i> in one piece. And <i>watch that fang</i>! Keep it clear!” their leader ordered, and Iruka lifted his head, staring at the man.</p><p>Someone rubbed a cloth over Iruka’s face, making him choke on another cry of pain as the none-too-gentle touch made his whole face throb, and then they wrestled him into a small clear space just off the road. They chained the manacles around his wrists to a post, and then chained his ankles to it as well. The leader laughed, patting Iruka’s shoulder as the others retreated, taking careful steps.</p><p>Iruka squinted, just able to make out the glint of metal in the unnatural pattern of brush all . . . around him.</p><p>He swallowed. One of the hunters had kicked loose some of the brush and Iruka saw heavy wood and thick-bladed spikes as his fellows ribbed him and he slowly replaced the concealment.</p><p>“A trap for a wily fox.” the lead hunter said, clasping Iruka’s chin and turning his head. “He’ll come for you and, hell, he’ll even get you - maybe he’ll even save you.” The man laughed and Iruka realised with a cold kind of fury that he had never in his life hated anyone more. “Maybe it’ll make him happy as he goes.”</p><p>The man took hold of Kakashi’s fang and Iruka spat blood at him. He laughed again.</p><p>“Oh, he’ll come for you,” the man yanked at Kakashi’s fang, the cord pulling against Iruka’s neck, “and once he reaches you. . .” The man gestured, and one of the others kicked at one of the beams laid out around Iruka.</p><p>It <i>snapped</i> upright, huge and curved and looming, the blades slamming into the post Iruka was chained to, just shy of his left arm. His eyes widened as he looked at it, then around at the broad circle around him, his blood running cold.</p><p>“His body might shield yours.” The hunter grinned. “But <i>he’ll</i> be done for.” He gestured again, and a couple of his men freed the spikes from the wood at Iruka’s back and began hauling the beam back into place.</p><p>“Doesn’t the heart have to be intact to be any use?”</p><p>Iruka stilled, wanting to wring that man’s <i>neck</i> even as horror surged in his mind. Kakashi’s <i>heart</i>? They wanted. . .</p><p>“It’s best, but we’ll use it tonight, so it doesn’t matter.” one of the others answered dismissively.</p><p>“Besides, if he’s this big,” their leader held up Kakashi’s fang, “we’ll kill him all right, but his heart? It’ll be just fine when we get to it.”</p><p>“You won’t get <i>near</i>-”</p><p>The hunter squeezed Iruka’s jaw painfully, silencing him. “I won’t have to get anywhere near your fox - the moment he gets to <i>you</i>, his own youki will spring the trap. No way to get out of <i>that</i>.” He grinned.</p><p>Iruka’s stomach sank, his eyes wide. </p><p>“Now, to <i>get his attention</i>.” the hunter said, and reversed the fang, jabbing it at Iruka’s shoulder. It hurt, but it didn’t break the skin. Kakashi’s fang wouldn’t hurt him. Iruka laughed, faintly aware he was verging on hysterics.</p><p>The hunter cursed, then shoved Kakashi’s fang across Iruka’s face, through the blood still oozing from his probably-broken nose. Iruka choked and the man shoved him backwards, thumping hard into the wood.</p><p>He was walking away when Iruka’s vision finally cleared, and Iruka whimpered. Not so much from pain - he hurt all over, horribly, but that was. . .</p><p>No. Kakashi. <i>Kakashi.</i></p><p>Iruka looked at the trap around him and listened to them talk and he could see no way Kakashi could escape this. If they had forged into Kakashi’s forest they might have harmed him, but he could have faced them down and Iruka was sure he would have won out. But like this?</p><p>And. . .</p><p>Kakashi <i>would</i> come, Iruka thought, with a painful squeeze in his heart and a rush that wanted to be tears, even as he listened to the hunters laughing and talking about how they would <i>carve out</i> his lover’s heart, steal it and use his youki and his death to gain magic for themselves. Iruka was here, and Kakashi would come.</p><p><i>You’re mine, my mate</i>, Kakashi’s voice, low and warm and adoring, sounded in Iruka’s mind, his memory, a harsh contrast to the cold night and the cold steel binding him, <i>I will <b>always</b> find you, always come for you, always help you.</i></p><p>Iruka swallowed against stinging nausea. Kakashi would find him, would come to him, and then Kakashi would set off the trap, and Iruka could not imagine any way his lover might survive. Even if he did when caught in that <i>mass</i> of blades, he would be <i>caught</i> and the hunters could get to him as they pleased - could <i>rip into him</i> and-</p><p>Iruka couldn’t help but imagine Kakashi’s fur thick with blood, his voice cracking as he howled not in joy or pleasure or warning but <i>pain</i>, his bright eyes dulling and dimming, his fur and muscle ripped away and his <i>heart</i>-</p><p>His heart. <i>Iruka’s</i>-</p><p>Head bowed, Iruka looked at Kakashi’s fang, smeared with his own blood where it lay on his chest, <i>calling</i> Kakashi to him by the same magic that let Iruka use it himself. If only-</p><p>Iruka’s breath caught. Kakashi’s youki. In Kakashi’s fang.</p><p>His eyes darted to the beams surrounding him. He closed them, tears welling up even as his heart eased a little. Kakashi would be hurt, Kakashi would be hurt forever, Iruka thought sadly - he <i>knew</i> how much his wolf loved him, and knew no other would take his place; it was a mournful truth they had gently avoided for years - but Kakashi would see the trap, see the hunters, would <i>not be caught</i>.</p><p><i>Iruka</i> would not be his lover’s death.</p><p>Iruka swallowed, drawing a breath. Kakashi would be coming, and the hunters would be ready for him, the trap <i>was</i> ready for him, Iruka the perfect fucking bait - the only thing Kakashi would never resist.</p><p>Iruka began to chant softly, focusing on the fang - he would normally have to hold it, but it was covered in his blood; it responded easily enough.</p><p>It was a simple spell, one to quiet the sounds of Iruka’s passage. Easy. Barely used a flicker of magic - of Kakashi’s youki. It wouldn’t help him now. No magic Iruka could do <i>would</i>.</p><p>But that wasn’t what he wanted.</p><p>Iruka’s voice cracked but the magic was already taking form, and a moment later - as the hunters swore, voices raised - the trap-</p><p>
  <i>Closed.</i>
</p><p>Iruka choked on a scream as the blades drove through him from a dozen angles, the heat of his own blood coursing over his skin and a small <i>fiery</i> crackle of magic at his chest from Kakashi’s fang, but the agony didn’t last long before the world faded away into warm, soothing shadow.</p>
<hr/><p>Kakashi froze, paws skidding on the earth, tearing through underbrush, and Iruka blinked, staring. He hadn’t- <i>Kakashi?</i></p><p>Iruka looked around, recognising, if not the specific place, then at least that they were within the youkai forest. He hurt, but only a little; mostly he could just feel the crackling of Kakashi’s youki in his chest.</p><p>Kakashi shook, his eyes bleeding red. Iruka’s eyes widened. “Kakashi!” he cried, but Kakashi didn’t so much as flick an ear towards him. Iruka moved, reaching out, but his hand passed through Kakashi’s fur without making contact.</p><p>His heart caught in his throat, thick and choking.</p><p>. . .so it had worked, then. Iruka remembered the agony of being impaled by the blades intended for his lover; springing the trap too early and depriving the hunters of their bait.</p><p>He bit his lip. It worked. Kakashi was safe from them. And Iruka . . . would never be with him again. He swallowed hard, fingers curling inwards as he pressed his hand to his chest, over the tingling almost-pain.</p><p>Kakashi’s fang wasn’t there now, of course, and somehow that hurt even more.</p><p>Iruka sobbed, and Kakashi snarled, baring his long, gleaming fangs. He began to run again, and Iruka found himself following - not by his own will, though he would have, but carried by whatever force had kept him here.</p><p>Trailing behind Kakashi as he ran, blindingly fast, Iruka heard the hunters before he saw them, still cursing and now squabbling with one another.</p><p>That didn’t last long before Kakashi was among them, and the gruff yelling turned to screams - alarm, pain, anger. Iruka cringed as Kakashi’s jaws snapped on the leader’s body, then, with a sharp, tearing crunch, tore him in half.</p><p>Kakashi let the pieces fall in a bloody cascade, viscera spilling across the earth in a wash of blood. Kakashi was still moving - he hadn’t stopped even to catch the man, and for all his knowledge of youkai, he had been helpless under the force of Kakashi’s fury.</p><p>Iruka watched, eyes wide, as Kakashi tore through the hunters, barely even bothering to use his youki - no, he was more than a match for them with nothing more than his bared fangs and the powerful muscles hidden by his thick coat. The hunters fought back as Kakashi moved among them like quicksilver, attacking him with blades and with magic - and Iruka felt sick as he thought. . .</p><p>That magic. <i>Stolen.</i> They had killed some other youkai - probably many - and ripped out their hearts to buy <i>stolen magic</i>.</p><p>Iruka knew not all youkai were like his lover, but the very idea lit fury in his blood.</p><p>He paused, biting his lip, a burble of hysterical laughter catching in his throat. He didn’t really <i>have</i> blood any more, did he? Not if. . .</p><p>Iruka turned, watching Kakashi’s jaws snap together on one of the hunters’ arms. There was a horrible wet crunch, and Kakashi snapped his head, flinging the man aside. He struck a tree with another resounding crunch and collapsed into a mangled heap at the base.</p><p>When Iruka looked back Kakashi had already left three of the man’s fellows in bloody shreds with their leader. The magic they used struck at him in angry purple-black and red flares, but it skated off his fur, barely more than stinging him, from all Iruka could tell.</p><p>Some of the blood dotting Kakashi’s gorgeous coat was his own, but . . . very little.</p><p>Drawn along with his lover before he could even think to move himself, Iruka watched with his heart in his throat as Kakashi chased after the very last of the hunters, running down the road, then felled them.</p><p>Kakashi snarled, searching, breathing deeply, his head tipped upwards - Iruka couldn’t be sure it wasn’t exertion, but he suspected Kakashi was only scenting for any of them that might have gotten away. Though surely. . .</p><p>The scent of blood and viscera must be thick in the air, Iruka couldn’t imagine there was much of <i>anything</i> else that could be smelled beyond it. Not that he could smell any of it.</p><p>Kakashi turned and ran again, and Iruka was pulled along with him, the world blurring with sickening speed, but only for moments before Kakashi came to a stop once more. He startled as Kakashi shuddered and then fell into his most human-like shape - the fine kimono he usually wore was stained with blood, and there were splotches of it staining his long fluffy tails and his ears, but he looked much as Iruka was used to seeing him.</p><p>Except for the look on his face.</p><p>It was. . . Iruka’s heart felt like it was being ripped apart in his chest. Kakashi’s face was twisted with agony, his eyes faintly glowing even now the blood red had faded and left behind the silvery, stormy grey Iruka knew so well - and loved so much.</p><p>Iruka followed Kakashi’s gaze and felt a cold rush fill him from somewhere near the sparking flare of Kakashi’s youki in his chest.</p><p>Oh. <i>Oh.</i> That was-</p><p>If Iruka had been in his body, he thought faintly, he would have been sick. But Iruka’s body was-</p><p>There.</p><p>Kakashi ripped the beams of the hateful trap apart, pulling them back from Iruka’s body and sending them away in pieces, splintering as they impacted each other and the ground, breaking across the bodies of the pair of hunters who were nearest. What was left of them.</p><p>The steel that had so bound Iruka splintered under Kakashi’s claws just as easily, freeing his body - bloodied, broken, boneless - to fall from the post into Kakashi’s arms. His blood soaked into Kakashi’s kimono, and Kakashi sank to the ground with Iruka’s body in his arms, <i>shaking</i>.</p><p>Iruka moved closer, calling out to his lover only for his voice to catch, stuck in his throat. Kakashi couldn’t hear him, and from this distance he could see . . . the damage he had only felt, fleetingly at that. The wounds that had killed him.</p><p>They were. . .</p><p>Iruka shuddered and tore his gaze away, looking at Kakashi instead.</p><p>It wasn’t any less painful, Iruka realised. Kakashi’s eyes were on Iruka’s body cradled close to him, on his <i>face</i>, and the pain in his eyes had only grown deeper.</p><p>Kakashi threw back his head and <i>howled</i>, and the sound tore into Iruka like the very blades Kakashi had just pulled free of his body. It ripped through the night, echoing the song of Kakashi’s fury and grief until the forest shook with it.</p><p>Iruka thought, clutching at his chest, that no one who heard this wavering, powerful cry could possibly <i>not</i> feel a tiny sliver of Kakashi’s pain.</p><p>Then a sharper pain twisted in his chest, near his heart - where his heart would <i>be</i>, were he alive, were he still in his body - and the world shimmered, beginning to fade. Iruka yelped, startled, then cried out a denial, shaking his head, reaching for Kakashi with one hand and clutching at his chest with the other.</p><p>“No! <i>Kakashi!</i> No, gorgeous, beloved, I won’t- I don’t want to leave him!” Iruka begged, trying to catch hold of Kakashi, sobbing. He had known when he made his choice - and between his own and Kakashi’s deaths, he would have made it every time - but-</p><p>“I don’t want to leave you, I <i>never</i> want to leave you!” Iruka begged as he fell to his knees beside his own body’s legs, beside his grieving lover. Kakashi howled again, broken and sharp and hurting, tears coursing down his cheeks and mixing with blood as they dripped from his sharp jaw. He clutched at Iruka’s body, crackling with youki so powerfully it had formed little bolts like lightning, his claws digging into Iruka’s battered body, not that it mattered now.</p><p>“I love you so much, Kakashi.” Iruka said thinly, though he knew Kakashi couldn’t hear him. “I would have stayed with you forever. If only I could. Thank you,” his voice cracked as the world shimmered and pulsed again, “for e-”</p><p>Iruka screamed as the pain in his chest lanced outwards, and then-</p><p>Kakashi, and the rest of the world, were gone in a rush of shadowy black.</p>
<hr/><p>Iruka hurt. <i>Everywhere.</i> There was nothing except the agony throbbing through him with the throb of his heartbeat, and the powerful sound ringing in his ears, which managed to hurt almost as much.</p><p>He wasn’t sure what-</p><p>Iruka’s vision cleared slowly as he fought to breathe evenly through the pain - and the thick scent of blood that made his nose wrinkle. He thought. It was a little difficult to feel out what his body was telling him.</p><p>He stared up at . . . Kakashi’s . . . bloody face.</p><p>Kakashi.</p><p>“Kakashi?” Iruka asked, voice thin and cracking, concerned.</p><p>Kakashi’s jaw snapped shut and he dropped his head immediately, staring at Iruka, glittering eyes wide. “I- <i>Iruka.</i> What- You-”</p><p>Iruka reached up for his cheek, realised there was even <i>more</i> blood on himself than was on Kakashi even as he fought to sit up - Kakashi supported him with gentle, if shaking, hands - and Iruka-</p><p>Iruka suddenly <i>remembered</i>, catching a glimpse of the post with its dangling chains just beside them. He could have reached out and touched the blood-soaked wood.</p><p>He pressed a hand to his chest, crying out softly at the pain sparking through him, and Kakashi pulled him in even closer. “Iruka! Koibito, how- What- You were. . .” His hands roamed over Iruka, tender sweeps that felt out his body carefully.</p><p>“I don’t know, I- <i>Aah-</i>” Iruka panted, and Kakashi crooned shakily, fingers brushing his ear and- Iruka shivered at the strange feeling, and then even <i>stranger</i> feeling of <i>muscles twitching</i> in his ear. A tingle flared along his spine and something else, strange and unfamiliar . . . <i>moved</i>, near the base but somehow further away.</p><p>Iruka clawed at his chest, trying to get at the source of the pain, and it <i>hurt</i> even more - differently, this time, sharp little hurts blooming under his fingertips.</p><p>“Easy! Be gentle with yourself, you have- You. . .” Kakashi caught his hand, and Iruka whined, only to stare as Kakashi pulled his fingers out gently, showing him the slender claws tipping his fingers, just like Kakashi’s own.</p><p>A renewed pulse of crackling hurt spread through him from his chest before Iruka could quite gather together the mind to consider the claws fully. He fought Kakashi’s grip as he doubled over, feeling fur brush his skin and leaning into Kakashi even more, wishing it could be much of a comfort right now but unable to even <i>think</i> past the pulsing pain wracking his body.</p><p>Blood dripped from the wound over his heart - the only one, Iruka realised, looking at himself through the shredded remnants of his clothes, that he still bore. He gasped out a question to Kakashi, then yowled as Kakashi pulled him close and <i>pushed his claws over raw flesh</i>.</p><p>“Kakashi!” Iruka cried out, cringing, clinging to Kakashi’s shoulders desperately - he was vaguely aware of his claws sinking through silk and into flesh, but it paled beyond the feeling of Kakashi’s claws sinking into his chest. “What- <i>Please-!</i>”</p><p>“I’m sorry, koibito.” Kakashi crooned shakily, nuzzling his cheek and jaw, licking him, arm tightening around his ribs. Iruka <i>howled</i> in pain as Kakashi’s claws dug through his chest, and then-</p><p>There was a tearing feeling, and Kakashi’s fingers were gone, and so was the throbbing agony that had radiated outwards from his heart. Iruka shuddered with reaction, and felt a pang of guilt as he looked at Kakashi’s face and realised how drawn he looked. Of course Kakashi hadn’t wanted to cause him pain, and he had <i>stopped</i> Iruka’s pain . . . whatever had caused it.</p><p>Iruka crooned and leaned into him, nuzzling his jaw and licking it without thinking, tasting blood and salt. He froze. That should probably have bothered him more. And the impulse was not one Iruka had ever had before.</p><p>Kakashi held out a shaking hand and showed him. . .</p><p>“Your- Your fang.” Iruka said unsteadily. It was bloody all over, lying across Kakashi’s fingers and palm.</p><p>“It was in your heart.” Kakashi said, then swallowed thickly. “My youki.” he said, voice lower.</p><p>“Your youki.” Iruka repeated. It was what had triggered the trap. And. . . One of the blades must have driven it into Iruka’s chest when he. . . But how- How was Iruka alive <i>now</i>?</p><p>He <i>was</i> alive - he could feel Kakashi’s embrace, could speak with him, could feel his own heart beating as well as Kakashi’s where they were pressed so closely together.</p><p>Kakashi kissed him, all fierce desperation, and Iruka shook with force of it even as he returned it, clutching Kakashi’s shoulders once more. He felt the sting of Kakashi’s fangs the way he only ever did when Kakashi was losing control, and clutched at him even harder, holding him close.</p><p>Kakashi nuzzled him as the kiss broke. “I <i>gave</i> it to you, and you called it. . .” he said slowly, breathless. “I <i>felt you</i>, felt what happened, and then I <i>found you</i>. . . More than anything I wanted to be with you. No matter what.” He stroked Iruka’s cheek. “I would have followed you if I could, koibito.”</p><p>“I was there. I was watching you.” Iruka said, licking his lips. “I only wanted to be with you again. I didn’t want to die but I had to- Oh kami, Kakashi, I just needed you to be safe and I wished I could stay with you, but <i>how</i>?”</p><p>Kakashi wrapped Iruka’s fingers around his bloody fang, holding it together. “You called my youki and it came; I gifted it to you, no restrictions. You never had the strength to call it all, but somehow. . .”</p><p>“All of it?” Iruka felt a pang of fright. “Wait, does that-”</p><p>Kakashi kissed him hard, laughing as they pulled apart, and suddenly he rose to his feet, pulling Iruka with him and lifting him into the air, spinning with him before letting his feet touch the bloody grass once more, holding him tight. “I’m fine, koibito, and <i>so are you</i>. And I will <i>never</i> lose you again, <i>not ever</i>.”</p><p>He tipped his head back and howled, this time bright with happiness, and Iruka felt a lightness in his own chest. The answering howl was all but pulled from him before he even knew what he was doing, and the pure <i>joy</i> of it as he sang and his voice melded with his mate’s was . . . incredible.</p><p>When Iruka’s voice gave out Kakashi was suddenly kissing him again, and he growled, only to jump when he realised what he was doing. Kakashi laughed and nuzzled him, hands roaming his body in affectionate strokes.</p><p>“My Iruka, my mate,” Kakashi said, pressing his nose to Iruka’s cheek, “my wolf, now, like me.” he added, and Iruka blinked, shivering, but shook his head and pulled Kakashi into another kiss. He had so many questions and he was so unsure, but there was one thing he was <i>desperately</i> sure of, as he always had been, and. . .</p><p>And Kakashi was right here in his arms.</p><p>Iruka kissed him hard, one hand buried in his hair, the other cupping the back of his neck, and Kakashi returned it just as fiercely, holding him tight.</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Omake:</b>
</p><p>Iruka slipped out between the rocks, padding lightly on the soft undergrowth. He grinned as he made it down to the bank of the stream, single tail waving a little, ears perking as he listened for his mate.</p><p>He called up his youki, and it surged in answer like a fiery wave - carrying the faintest lightning-crackle, reminiscent of Kakashi’s own - rushing through his body, changing it until he wore what was now his true form. Iruka’s tail wagged again and he cocked his head, then leapt, yelping, paws sliding into the water as he landed.</p><p>Kakashi barked a laugh behind him, and Iruka turned to face his mate, pouting as best he could.</p><p>Kakashi leapt across to join him and licked his muzzle and cheek, then rubbed against him, all contained power and soft adoration. Iruka sighed contentedly, then crooned as he returned the nuzzling, pressing even closer.</p><p>Kakashi nipped his ear, and Iruka laughed, tail curving high as it wagged again. Kakashi’s own tails moved lazily back and forth. “Ready to hunt, koibito?” he asked, dipping his head and rubbing his cheek along Iruka’s neck and shoulder.</p><p>Iruka dropped down into a stretch, back arching, then bounced back up onto his paws, feeling the energy of an oncoming hunt, his heart fluttering. “Yes!”</p><p>Kakashi nudged their muzzles together, then brushed past Iruka, and he moved to follow, falling in at his mate’s shoulder easily.</p><p>“Then let’s go, koibito.” Kakashi said with a grin, baring his fangs. Iruka grinned back, baring his own, and they burst into a run together, moving easily through the forest that was <i>theirs</i> - theirs to run, to hunt, to <i>keep</i>.</p><p>Iruka howled for the pure joy of it, and Kakashi’s voice joined his own in a twining, eerie call, alerting every creature that moved that the wolves were out and running.</p><p>Tonight they were out only to indulge - the run that made their hearts race, the fierce joy of the hunt, and then the driving pleasure to be found in each other at the end of it before they returned together to the security and warmth of their den.</p><p>The thought made Iruka’s heart soar and his youki pulse, Kakashi’s own flaring in answer as their paws beat a silent, matching rhythm on the earth.</p>
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